Storage cabinet

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a filing cabinet and to a drawer therefor of the type which is made from paperboard as the principal construction material. The file drawer of the cabinet is provided with a pair of support rails respectively extending along the upper edges of the side walls of the file drawer. The rails can include an upwardly faced channel portion extending laterally into the box so that hanging folder type files can be placed in the drawer with the hangers of the files being protected from contact with the shell of the cabinet as the drawer is moved in and out. The rails may also provide a slide portion extending downwardly along the upper part of the drawer&#39;&#39;s side walls so as to slide along the inside of the shell and therefore, to some degree, prevent the sides of the drawer from rubbing on the shell.

United States Patent [1 1- Pryor STORAGE CABINET [7 5] lnventor: JamesT. Pryor, Dallas, Tex.

[73] Assignee: Nuperm, lnc., Ducanville, Tex.

[22] Filed: Mar. 9, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 233,118

[52] US. Cl 312/184, 312/261, 312/330 [51] Int. Cl A47b 63/00 [58] Fieldof Search 312/184, 183, 330,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,647,101 7/1972 l-lensch etal. 312/184 3,429,632 2/1969 Simon et al 312/359 3,456,994 7/ 1969Sullivan 312/184 3,614,185 10/1971 Splain 312/184 Primary Examiner-JamesT. McCall Attorney-Willis H. Taylor, lr., Merton S. Neill et al.

[' July 24, 1973 57 ABSTRACT This invention relates to a filing cabinetand to a drawer therefor of the type which is made from paperboard asthe principal construction material. The file drawer of the cabinet isprovided with a pair of support rails respectively extending along theupper edges of the side walls of the file drawer. The rails can includean upwardly faced channel portion extending laterally into the box sothat hanging folder type files can be placed in the drawer with thehangers of the files being protected from contact with the shell of thecabinet as the drawer is moved in and out. The rails may also provide aslide portion extending downwardly along the upper part of the drawersside walls so as to slide along the inside of the shell and therefore,to some degree, prevent the sides of the drawer from rubbing on theshell.

5 Clalins, 4 Drawing Figures Patented July 24, 1973 In a conventionalsteel filing cabinet, the drawer is provided with a mechanical guidewithin the shell which assures that the drawer will remain centered inthe shell and that its sides will not rub against the sides of theshell. Therefore, hanging type file folders can be placed in the drawerwith the ends of the hangers for the files extending over the sidewallsof the drawer into a space between the sides of the drawer'and shell.The maintenance of this space is at a constantvalue so that the hangersof the files do not contact the shell is assured by the guide means forthe drawer.

In many types of economy filing cabinets made of paperboard, a guidemeans is not provided for the drawer and the sides of the drawer arefree to rub on the sides of the shell as the drawer is moved inwardlyand outwardly. Hence even though the drawer may be sufficiently narrowerthan the shell so as to theoretically provide a space to either sidethereof for permitting the use of hanging type file folders, there isnothing to insure the maintenance of this space as .the drawer inpractice will move against the sides of the shell thereby interferingwith the use of the hanging type file folders.

It is an object of this invention to provide a filing cabinet and adrawer therefor formed primarily of paperboard and which has supportrails on each side of the drawer which permit the use of hanging typefile folders without also requiring the use of a guide means to keep thedrawer centered in the shell.

Another object is to providesuch a filing cabinet and drawer in whichthe rails also provide surfaces along the sides of the drawer which canslide against the interior surfacesbf the side walls of the shell so asto minimize or 'even eliminate rubbing of the side walls of the filedrawer against the side want-'0; the shell;

Other objects, advantages .andffeatures of the invention will beapparent from th 'sp ecification, the claims,

and the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the filingcabinet of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a view, partially in section, takenalong the line 2-2 of FIG.1; 3

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 4 is a view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a filing cabinet constructedprimarily of paperboard and which comprises a shell and a pull out filedrawer l1 slidable into and out of the shell. The shell has four walls(of which only 100 and 10b are shown) and an end wall (not shown)constructed of paperboard. The open end of the shell may have a metalstrengthening member 12 as is conventional.

The file drawer 11 has a front wall 11a, a rear wall and bottom wall(not shown) as well as side walls 11b and llc. All of these walls areconstructed primarily of paperboard. Also in this particular embodiment,the file drawer merely slides into and out of the shell without anyguide means to keep it centered in the shell and its sidewise movementin the shell is limited only by contact of the sides of the file drawerassembly with the side walls of the shell.

scribed;

.A pair of support rails 13 and 14 are provided to respectively extendalong the upper edges of theside walls 11b and 11c of the drawer. Inthepreferred embodiment, the two rails are identical to each other exceptthat one is installed to be the mirror image of the other. Accordingly,only one of them need be de- The support rail as shown has an upwardlyopen channel shaped section shown here to comprise side walls 15 and 16and a bottom wall 17. With this construction and as best shown in FIG.3, the hook ends 18 of hanging type files 19 can rest on the wall 15with the hooks extending into the channel to maintain the hanging filein its proper operative position.

The rails can also have a slide portion 20 which ex- 7 tends downwardlyalong theputer face of the side walls 11b and 11c of the drawer. Thisslide portion, together with the wall or flange when the latter isarranged to be coplanar with slide portion 20, provides a surface forsliding engagement with the inner faces of the side walls of the shell.Thus, the support rail can be de- 1 18 thereof will not contact theshell and to serve as a portion of the sliding guide as mentioned above.It will be seen that while the file drawer has a certain degree offreedom of sidewise movement, not having any guide means for keeping itcentered, nevertheless when'it is moved so that it engages a side wallof the shell, the

. hook ends'of the hanging files will not contact the side 'walls so asto interfere with proper operation of both the drawer and the hangingfiles. Also, the slide portion will tend to keep the paperboard sidewalls 11b and llc out of rubbing engagement with the shell.

Means are provided for fixing the support rails'in position along theupper edges of the side walls of the'file drawer. This such means caninclude flange 21 depend-- ing from the horizontal leg of the rail andcooperating with slide portion 20 to provide achannel therebetweenfor-receiving the upper edge of a side wall. The

slide portion 20 is provided with an inturnedshoulder to engage a flap23 turned down from the upper edge of the side wall of the drawer, allas shown in FIG."3. The clearance between the inner edge of shoulder 22and flange 21 is about twice the thickness of the side wall 11b of thedrawer. With this construction, the rail can be pushed down over theupper edge of the side wall until it is in the FIG. 3 position at whichtime the flap 23 will spring outwardly to be engaged by the shoulder 22.Alternatively, the rail can be slid lengthwise onto the side wall inwhich case the flap will remain in the FIG. 3 position while the rail isbeing slid into place.

TI-Ie end walls of the drawer have a plurality of paperboard plies and'the entire end walls are folded into position along their lower edges asat 11d in FIG. 1. In order to hold the end walls in their uprightposition and also to give added rigidity to the structure, the rails areconnected to the end walls by a tab 24 and a connector 25 which can beeither threaded to the rail or have a frictional fit therewith. The tab24 in turn is rigidly connected to a metal plate 26 disposed between theplies 27 and 28 of theend walls. The plate has an edge 26a .(FIG. 4)adjacent to the attachment together of the plies 27 and 28 (such as thefolded section 27a joining the ends of the plies 27 and 28). This limitsturning movement of the plate so that tab 24 is in a relatively fixedpositiondespite any torque that may be applied to it.

One of these tab and plate combinations can be provided for each end ofeach rail and each can be constructed as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4.

With the foregoing construction, it can be seen that hanging folder typefiles can be placed in the drawer in such a manner that the hook ends 18will be maintained out of engagement with the side walls of the shell.This assures that the drawer can be readily moved in and out of theshell without causing the hanging files to be dislodged from theiroperative hanging position and also without having to provide a guidemeans for centering the drawer in the shell so as to assuremaintaining'a space between the drawer and the side walls of the shellas the drawer is moved in and out.

From the foregoing description of one embodiment of this invention byway of example, it'will be seen that this invention is one well adaptedto attain all of the ends and objects hereinabove set forth, togetherwith other advantages which are obvious and which are inherent to theapparatus and structure.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

l. A filing cabinet for use with hanging folder-type files comprising:

a. a shell having an open end;

b. a pull-out file drawer slidable into the shell through the open endthereof, said drawer having two side walls each of which includes aturned-down flap extending along its upper edge, said flap beingnormally biased away from the side wall portion adjacent thereto;

c. rail means extending along the upper edge of each side wall of thedrawer for supporting said files in a suspended condition within thedrawer;

d. restraining means carried by each rail means for preventing saidsuspended files from shifting laterally beyond the respective side wallof the drawer; and

e. attachment means for fixing the rail means in position along therespective side wall of the drawer, said attachment means including:

i. a channel for receiving the turned-down flap and said adjacentlydisposed side wall portion, said channel being defined by a pair ofdownwardly depending flanges carried by the respective rail means, saidflanges being disposed in parallel spaced apart relationship to eachother with the distance separating said flanges being greater than abouttwice the thickness of the respective side wall; and

ii. an internal shoulder extending inwardly of the channel from theflange positioned immediately adjacent to said flap with the inner edgeof said shoulder being spaced from the inner surface of the other flangeby a distance equal to about,

twice the thickness of the respective side wall, said shoulder beingadapted to engage the edge of said flap in underlaying relationshipthereto to thereby hold the respective rail means in place along theupper edge of the respective drawer side wall.

2. The filing cabinet according to claim 1 wherein the a. two spacedapart upright side walls each having a turned-down flap extending alongits upper edge,

said flap being normally biased away from the side wall portion adjacentthereto;

b. rail means extending along the upper edge of each side wall of thedrawer for supporting said files in a suspended condition within thedrawer;

c. restraining means carried by each rail means for preventing saidsuspended files from shifting laterally'beyond the respective side wallof the drawer; and

d. attachment means for fixing the rail means in position along therespective side wall of the drawer, said attachment means including:

i. a channel for receiving the turned-down flap and saidadjacentlydisposed side wall portion, said channel being defined by apair of downwardly depending flanges carried by the respective rail'means, said flanges being disposed in parallel spaced apartrelationship to each other with the distance separating said flangesbeing greater than about twice the thickness of the respective sidewall; and

ii. an internal shoulder extending inwardly of the channel from theflange positioned immediately adjacent to said flap with the inner edgeof said shoulder being spaced from the inner surface of the other flangeby a distance equal to about twice the thickness of 'the respective sidewall,

' said shoulder being adapted to engage the edge of said flap inunderlaying relationship thereto to thereby hold the respective railmeans in place along the upper edge of the respective drawer side wall.

5. The drawer according to claim 4 wherein each of said side walls ismade of paperboard and wherein each of said flaps is defined by afolded-over marginal portion of the respective side wall whereby saidflap is naturally self-biased away from said adjacently disposed sidewall portion into engagement with said shoulder as aforesaid.

sass:

1. A filing cabinet for use with hanging folder-type files comprising:a. a shell having an open end; b. a pull-out file drawer slidable intothe shell through the open end thereof, said drawer having two sidewalls each of which includes a turned-down flap extending along itsupper edge, said flap being normally biased away from the side wallportion adjacent thereto; c. rail means extending along the upper edgeof each side wall of the drawer for supporting said files in a suspendedcondition within the drawer; d. restraining means carried by each railmeans for preventing said suspended files from shifting laterally beyondthe respective side wall of the drawer; and e. attachment means forfixing the rail means in position along the respective side wall of thedrawer, said attachment means including: i. a channel for receiving theturned-down flap and said adjacently disposed side wall portion, saidchannel being defined by a pair of downwardly depending flanges carriedby the respective rail means, said flanges being disposed in parallelspaced apart relationship to each other with the distance separatingsaid flanges being greater than about twice the thickness of therespective side wall; and ii. an internal shoulder extending inwardly ofthe channel from the flange positioned immediately adjacent to said flapwith the inner edge of said shoulder being spaced from the inner surfaceof the other flange by a distance equal to about twice the thickness ofthe respective side wall, said shoulder being adapted to engage the edgeof said flap in underlaying relationship thereto to thereby hold therespective rail means in place along the upper edge of the respectivedrawer side wall.
 2. The filing cabinet according to claim 1 wherein theflange positioned immediate adjacent to said flap is disposed outwardlyof said other flange to thereby define a guide surface adapted forslidably engaging the inner surface of the shell.
 3. The filing cabinetaccording to claim 2 wherein each of said side walls is made ofpaperboard and wherein each of said flaps is defined by a folded-overmarginal portion of the respective side wall whereby said flap isnaturally seLf-biased away from said adjacently disposed side wallportion into engagement with said shoulder as aforesaid.
 4. A drawer fora filing cabinet comprising: a. two spaced apart upright side walls eachhaving a turned-down flap extending along its upper edge, said flapbeing normally biased away from the side wall portion adjacent thereto;b. rail means extending along the upper edge of each side wall of thedrawer for supporting said files in a suspended condition within thedrawer; c. restraining means carried by each rail means for preventingsaid suspended files from shifting laterally beyond the respective sidewall of the drawer; and d. attachment means for fixing the rail means inposition along the respective side wall of the drawer, said attachmentmeans including: i. a channel for receiving the turned-down flap andsaid adjacently disposed side wall portion, said channel being definedby a pair of downwardly depending flanges carried by the respective railmeans, said flanges being disposed in parallel spaced apart relationshipto each other with the distance separating said flanges being greaterthan about twice the thickness of the respective side wall; and ii. aninternal shoulder extending inwardly of the channel from the flangepositioned immediately adjacent to said flap with the inner edge of saidshoulder being spaced from the inner surface of the other flange by adistance equal to about twice the thickness of the respective side wall,said shoulder being adapted to engage the edge of said flap inunderlaying relationship thereto to thereby hold the respective railmeans in place along the upper edge of the respective drawer side wall.5. The drawer according to claim 4 wherein each of said side walls ismade of paperboard and wherein each of said flaps is defined by afolded-over marginal portion of the respective side wall whereby saidflap is naturally self-biased away from said adjacently disposed sidewall portion into engagement with said shoulder as aforesaid.